Old-School RPGs Are New Again @ PCWorld

October 4th, 2011, 23:20

PCWorld has a piece on "old-school RPGs", looking at indies like Eschalon: Book II, Avadon and Knights of the Chalice through classics like Daggerfall. You're likely to know about most of these but - hey, it's nice to see other sites waking up to the potential:

Let's start with classic computer role-playing games. All the titles discussed here are single-player and turn-based; no 20-man raids or button mashing required. Fans of SSI's "Gold Box" Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games (who doesn't remember taking a long lunch while your wheezing 8088 PC finished processing the actions of the two dozen kobolds attacking you?) will enjoy Knights of the Chalice (about $24, free demo). The game uses a simplified version of the D&D 3.5 rule set. You create a party of four and go forth on an epic quest, where you learn that, in the old-school tradition, encounters don't "scale" to your level. ("Save early, save often" is the only route to success.) The 8-bit-styled graphics look crude and blocky, but colorful and clear just the same; you'll never be uncertain about what's trying to kill you, or which figures are your characters.